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Securing your router

Making your router more secure.

The popularity of Linksys/Cisco routers can make them targets of malicious
hackers. By following a few easy steps you can harden your Linksys router
against potential intruders. Unfortunately, cyber
attacks are becoming more common place as groups try to mount large DOS attacks
on sites for ransom. These attacks are only possible if staged from
thousands of endpoints under their control, so more and more efforts are being
used to find open networks to access. These efforts begin as scans looking
for targets whose defenses are easy or have been compromised by Trojan
malware.

In any event good network practices including virus and security
software are essential, but in many cases the router sitting as the
gateway device is overlooked and intruders know this. The following
suggestions are simple to configure and will add additional security to any
potential threats. Most of these suggestions can and will be
applicable for most SOHO routers. These suggestions are not full proof and
even if enacted cannot be a total defense against Trojans and other malicious
Malware. One good suggestion to live by is "if your computer or network
just seems like things aren't right, maybe they aren't". So take a few
minutes and log into your router and make some basic common sense changes. Here are a few easy configurations on your Linksys router to make your
network more secure.

Easy steps to lock
down your Linksys router.

First log into your router and Change the Default Password. Use a
password that is harder to crack than using just a lowercase word. Add
some digits, an uppercase letter and even a symbol for extra password
strength.

Your Linksys/Cisco router has a setting to Block WAN Requests or Anonymous Internet Requests from the
outside. It may be disabled by default and you should keep this setting
enabled because it hides your IP address and is designed to prevent intruders from attacking
through the Internet. When it is Enabled, the router will drop both the
unaccepted TCP request and ICMP packets coming from the Internet. The hacker
will not find your router by pinging the Internet IP address.

Change the
IP address of the router itself. The default IP address of
popular routers will be the first IP address scanned. Changing that
address adds just another layer of complexity for a potential hacker.

Since most threats that we are discussing come from the
outside, when changing the password and IP address of your router, we suggest
that you write it down on a piece of paper and tape it to the bottom of the
router.

Additional steps to harden Linksys routers.

Make sure to Disable
Remote Administration, which on some routers is already turned
off by default.

Allow for only enough
private IP addresses as needed. If you have three
computers, one networked printer, 1 IP phone and an ATA then 6 DHCP addresses would be
sufficient to give each device an IP address.

Some routers have settings that disable Internet
access during certain preset time schedules. If your router does not,
than an
additional measure of security would be to keep your networked PCs off
during evening hours.

Keeping your network and PCs clean of Malware and other
intrusive applications should keep your available resources (bandwidth, etc.)
for your devices, including VoIP. VoIP connections are dependant on
quality connections and in many cases this quality starts right on your own private
network.